Extended recording time apparatus, systems, and methods

ABSTRACT

An embodiment for recording a channel that is communicating a program of interest identifies a selected program for recording as a program of interest based upon a characteristic of the selected program, the characteristic of the selected program corresponding to at least one characteristic associated with the program of interest; records an advance period corresponding to a period before a beginning of the program of interest, and records a following period corresponding to a period after a conclusion of the program of interest.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field relates to systems and methods for audio/video/datacontent providers and, more particularly, to apparatus, systems andmethods for extended recording time of a channel of a program.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Apparatus, systems and methods for recording a channel that iscommunicating a program of interest are disclosed. According to oneembodiment, a process comprises identifying a selected program forrecording as a program of interest based upon a characteristic of theselected program, the characteristic of the selected programcorresponding to at least one characteristic associated with the programof interest; recording an advance period, the advance periodcorresponding to a period before a beginning of the program of interest;and recording a following period, the following period corresponding toa period after a conclusion of the program of interest.

A system embodiment comprises a receiving device operable to receive aprogram of interest selected for recording, and a processor operable tocompare at least one characteristic of a program selected for recordingwith a plurality of program characteristics, and in response to thecharacteristic of the program matching one of the plurality of databasecharacteristics, is operable to control recording of at least an advanceperiod that precedes a scheduled start time of the program of interestand a following period that follows a scheduled end time of the programof interest.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative toeach other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communication systemin which embodiments of the extended time recorder may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is an overview illustrating the recording times associated withrecording a program of interest made by embodiments of the extended timerecorder.

FIG. 3 is an overview block diagram illustrating an exemplary extendedtime recorder embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary partial screen shot illustrating a hypotheticalelectronic programming guide displayed on a TV.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary partial screen shot illustrating a hypotheticalextended time recorder notification message that is displayed on the TV.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an extended time recorder embodimentimplemented in a user device, such as a DVR or the like.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts that illustrate a process used by anexemplary embodiment of the extended time recorder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A. Communication System Overview

FIG. 1 is an overview block diagram illustrating an exemplarycommunication system 102 in which embodiments of the extended timerecorder 100 may be implemented. It is to be appreciated that FIG. 1 isjust one example of a communications system and that the variousembodiments discussed herein are not limited to such exemplary system.Communication system 102 can include a variety of communication systemsand can use a variety of communication media including, but not limitedto, satellite wireless media.

Television service providers provide their customers a multitude ofaudio/video and/or data programming (hereafter, collectively and/orexclusively “programming”). Such programming is often provided by use ofa receiving device 118 (FIG. 1) communicatively coupled to apresentation device 120 configured to receive the programming.

Receiving device 118 interconnects to one or more communications mediaor sources (such as a cable head-end, satellite antenna, telephonecompany switch, Ethernet portal, off-air antenna, or the like) thatprovide the programming. The receiving device 118 commonly receives aplurality of programming by way of the communications media or sourcesdescribed in greater detail below. Based upon selection by the user, thereceiving device 118 processes and communicates the selected programmingto the one or more presentation devices 120.

For convenience, the receiving device 118 may be interchangeablyreferred to as a “television converter,” “receiver,” “set-top box,”“television receiving device,” “television receiver,” “televisionrecording device,” “satellite set-top box,” “satellite receiver,” “cableset-top box,” “cable receiver,” and/or “television tuner.” Accordingly,the receiving device 118 may be any suitable converter device orelectronic equipment that is operable to receive programming. Further,the receiving device 118 may itself include user interface devices, suchas buttons or switches. In many applications, a remote 128 is operableto control the presentation device 120 and other devices, such as theexemplary recording device 122.

Examples of a presentation device 120 include, but are not limited to, atelevision (TV), a personal computer (PC), a sound system receiver, adigital video recorder (DVR), a compact disk (CD) device, game system,or the like. Presentation devices 120 employ a display, one or morespeakers, or other output devices to communicate video and/or audiocontent to a user. In many implementations, one or more presentationdevices 120 reside in or near a customer's premises 116 and arecommunicatively coupled, directly or indirectly, to the receiving device118.

Program scheduling information may be provided interactively and on areal-time basis to a user by displaying an electronic programming guide(EPG) on the presentation device 120, which indicates the scheduledstart time, the scheduled end time, and other information, of a programof interest 202 (FIG. 2). When the presentation device 120 is coupled toa recording device 122, described in greater detail below, or if thepresentation device 120 itself has program recording capability, a usermay select a scheduled program of interest 202 for recording via theEPG, typically by selecting a highlighted area on the EPG displaying theabove described information pertaining to the program of interest 202.Alternatively, the user may select a scheduled program of interest 202for recording via the recording device 122 by specifying a startingrecord time, an ending record time (or period of time for recording),and/or a selected channel or the like.

However, not all programs of interest 202 begin and finish precisely attheir scheduled start and scheduled end times. And, there may be relatedprogramming that may also be of interest available before and/or afterthe scheduled program of interest 202.

For example, recording specific Olympic game events may be difficult,even if the events are scheduled before-hand. And, the program providermay provide related information of interest, such as athlete profiles orevent histories, prior to or after the Olympic game event at unscheduledtimes. As another example, professional sport events such as hockey,football, soccer, baseball, basketball, bowling, golf, and/or tenniswill often have pre-game or post-game programming available, especiallyduring championship playoff events.

In other situations, the actual program start time and end times may bedifferent from the scheduled start time and end time. For example, theremay be a delay in the start of a broadcasted sports event, or even atemporary delay during the event itself, due to inclement weather.Further, the end of the sports event may be delayed, for example, duringa playoff game where one or more overtime periods are required tocomplete the competition. As another example, a program of interest 202may be delayed by a prior delayed broadcasted program, or may be delayedby an unscheduled program interruption (such as, but not limited to, anunscheduled speech by an elected politician or emergency broadcast thatinterrupts the current program of interest or an earlier broadcastedprogram).

Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein, whether usedsingularly or in combination, facilitate the recording of programmingreceived by one or more receiving devices 118 for later presentation toone or more presentation devices 120. Desirably, but not necessarily,the various embodiments record programming before and/or after a programof interest 202 so that more programming is available for subsequentpresentation. The programming may be stored or recorded in any suitablelocation and/or format, and/or may be recorded by any suitable device,as described herein.

Recording, storing, saving, or writing, received programs (or portionsthereof) into or onto a suitable memory medium is collectively referredto herein as “recording” or the like. Thus, recording may refer tosaving the program into a suitable memory, such as a hard drive systemor the like. Recording may also refer to the recording of the program toa portable media, such as a magnetic tape, optical disc, smart card, orthe like.

A plurality of content providers 104 a-104 i provide program content,such as television content or audio content, to a distributor, such asthe program distributor 106. Exemplary content providers 104 a-104 iinclude television stations which provide local or national televisionprogramming, special content providers which provide premium basedprogramming or pay-per-view programming, or radio stations which provideaudio programming.

Program content, interchangeably referred to as a program, iscommunicated to the program distributor 106 from the content providers104 a-104 i through suitable communication media, generally illustratedas communication system 108 for convenience. Communication system 108may include many different types of communication media, now known orlater developed. Non-limiting media examples include telephony systems,the Internet, internets, cable systems, fiber optic systems, microwavesystems, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) systems, frame relay systems,digital subscriber loop (DSL) systems, radio frequency (RF) systems, andsatellite systems. Further, program content communicated from thecontent providers 104 a-104 i to the program distributor 106 may becommunicated over combinations of media. For example, a televisionbroadcast station may initially communicate program content, via an RFsignal or other suitable medium, that is received and then convertedinto a digital signal suitable for transmission to the programdistributor 106 over a fiber optics system. As another nonlimitingexample, an audio content provider may communicate audio content via itsown satellite system to the program distributor 106.

The received program content is converted by one or more devices (notshown) as necessary at the program distributor 106 into a suitablesignal that is communicated (i.e.; “uplinked”) by one or more antennas110 to one or more satellites 112 (separately illustrated herein from,although considered part of, the communication system 108). It is to beappreciated that the communicated uplink signal may contain a pluralityof multiplexed programs. The uplink signal is received by the satellite112 and then communicated (i.e., “downlinked”) from the satellite 112 inone or more directions, for example, onto a predefined portion of theplanet. It is appreciated that the format of the above-described signalsare adapted as necessary during the various stages of communication.

A receiver antenna 114 that is within reception range of the downlinksignal communicated from satellite 112 receives the above-describeddownlink signal. A wide variety of receiver antennae 114 are available.Some types of receiver antennae 114 are operable to receive signals froma single satellite 112. Other types of receiver antennae 114 areoperable to receive signals from multiple satellites 112.

The receiver antenna 114 can be located at a customer premises 116.Examples of customer premises 116 include a residence, a business, orany other suitable location operable to receive signals from satellite112. The received signal is communicated, typically over a hard-wireconnection, to a receiving device 118. Receiving device 118 is aconversion device that converts, also referred to as formatting, thereceived signal from antenna 114 into a signal suitable forcommunication to a presentation device 120 and/or a recording device122. Often, the receiver antenna 114 is of a parabolic shape that may bemounted on the side or roof of a structure. Other antenna configurationscan include, but are not limited to, phased arrays, wands, or otherdishes. Other antenna shapes and configurations may be utilized withoutdeviating from the invention.

The received signal communicated from the receiver antenna 114 to thereceiving device 118 is a relatively weak signal that is amplified, andprocessed or formatted, by the receiving device 118. The amplified andprocessed signal is then communicated from the receiving device 118 to apresentation device 120 in a suitable format, such as a television (TV)or the like, and/or to a recording device 122. It is to be appreciatedthat presentation device 120 may be any suitable device operable topresent a program having video information and/or audio information.

Recording device 122 may be any suitable device that is operable toreceive a signal from the receiving device 118, another endpoint device,or from other devices external to the customer premises 116, and save,store, record or the like the information from the received signal.Additional non-limiting examples of recording device 122 include opticalmedia recorders, such as a compact disk (CD) recorder, a digitalversatile disc or digital video disc (DVD) recorder, a digital videorecorder (DVR), or a personal video recorder (PVR), magnetic tape typerecorders, personal computers (PCs) and/or associated periphery devices,personal device assistants, cellular phones, and other devices having amemory medium operable to save a received program. Further, therecording device 122 is illustrated as residing outside of the receivingdevice 118. In other embodiments, the recording device 122 may be acomponent, system or device within the receiving device 118. In otherembodiments, the recording device 122 may be a component, system ordevice within the presentation device 120, or even in anothermulti-function device. All such embodiments are intended to be includedwithin the scope of this disclosure.

Interface between the receiving device 118 and a user (not shown) may beprovided by a hand-held remote device 128. Remote 128 typicallycommunicates with the receiving device 118 using a suitable wired orwireless medium, such as infrared (IR), RF, or the like. Other devices(not shown) may also be communicatively coupled to the receiving device118 so as to provide user instructions. Non-limiting examples include agame device controller, mouse, keyboard, etc.

The receiving device 118 may receive programming partially from, orentirely from, another source other than the above-described receiverantenna 114. Other embodiments of the receiving device 118 may receivelocally broadcast RF signals, or may be coupled to communication system108 via any suitable medium. Non-limiting examples of mediumcommunicatively coupling the receiving device 118 to communicationsystem 108 include cable, fiber optic, or Internet media.

It is appreciated that it is not practical to list or describe hereinall of the possible types of receiving devices 118, presentation devices120, user devices 122, remotes 128, intermediary devices 130, or theirequivalents. Further, it is appreciated that it is not practical to listor describe herein all of the possible types of interconnectivity and/orforms of media by which a receiving device 118 may receive programcontent. However, all such possible devices, types of interconnectivity,and media forms are intended to be included within the scope of thisdisclosure. Examples of such devices, types of interconnectivity, and/ormedia forms are further described in greater detail hereinbelow.

Customer premises 116 may include other devices which arecommunicatively coupled to communication system 108 via a suitablemedia. For example, but not limited to, some customer premises 116include an optional network 136, or a networked system, to whichreceiving devices 118, presentation devices 120, and/or a variety ofuser devices 122 can be coupled, collectively referred to as endpointdevices. Non-limiting examples of network 136 include, but are notlimited to, an Ethernet, twisted pair Ethernet, an intranet, a localarea network (LAN) system, or the like, One or more endpoint devices,such as PCs, data storage devices, TVs, game systems, sound systemreceivers, Internet connection devices, digital subscriber loop (DSL)devices, wireless LAN, WiFi, Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess (WiMax), or the like, are communicatively coupled to network 136so that the plurality of endpoint devices are communicatively coupledtogether. Thus, the network 136 allows the interconnected endpointdevices, and the receiving device 118, to communicate with each other.Alternatively, or additionally, some devices in the customer premises116 may be directly connected to the communication system 108, such asthe telephone 134 which may employ a hardwire connection or an RF signalfor coupling to communication system 108.

A plurality of information providers 138 a-138 i are coupled tocommunication system 108. Information providers 138 a-138 i may providevarious forms of content and/or services to the various devices residingin the customer premises 116. For example, information provider 138 amay provide requested information of interest to PC 132. Informationproviders 138 a-138 i may further perform various transactions, such aswhen a user purchases a product or service via their PC 132.

The above description of the communication system 102 and the customerpremises 116, and the various devices therein, is intended as a broad,non-limiting overview of an exemplary environment in which variousembodiments of the extended time recorder 100 may be implemented in. Thecommunication system 102, and the various devices therein, may containother devices, systems and/or media not specifically described herein.

B. Extended Time Recorder System Overview

FIG. 2 is an overview illustrating the recording times associated withrecording a program of interest 202 made by embodiments of the extendedtime recorder 100. A non-limiting example of a program of interest 202is a video program (with audio) that is presented to a user onpresentation device 120 (FIG. 1). The program of interest 202corresponds to a stream of programming, having video, audio, and/ordata. For example, but not limited to, if the presentation device 120 isa television, the program may be communicated over a designated orselected channel to the television.

Initially, a user selects the program 202 to be recorded. Embodiments ofthe extended time recorder 100 identify the selected program forrecording as a program of interest 202 based upon one or morecharacteristic features corresponding to the types of programming forwhich an advance period 204 and a following period 212 will be recorded,as described in greater detail below.

In response to identifying the selected program for recording as aprogram of interest 202, the extended time recorder 100 automaticallyrecords for some period of time prior to the scheduled start time of theprogram of interest 202, referred to herein as the advance period 204.Further, the extended time recorder 100 records for another period oftime after the scheduled end time of the program of interest 202 ,referred to herein as the following period 212. Thus, if a user wishesto record a program of interest 202 that corresponds to a predefinedcharacteristic (such as a sporting event), embodiments of the extendedtime recorder 100 may automatically record before and after the programof interest 202. The predefined category, criteria, or the like, isdescribed in greater detail hereinbelow.

At a later time, the user causes the recording device 122 to retrievethe recorded program of interest 202 from its storage medium forpresentation on presentation device 120. Embodiments of the extendedtime recorder 100 indicate to the user that the recordings before(advance period 204) and/or after (following period 212) the program ofinterest 202 are available for presentation. Thus, if the user wants toview the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212, theserecordings are retrieved and presented to the user.

As noted above, embodiments of the extended time recorder 100 areoperable to record for some period of time prior to the scheduled starttime of the program of interest 202, referred to hereinafter as anadvance period 204. The recorded advance period 204 will haveinformation of interest that was broadcasted prior to the start ofprogram of interest 202. For example, the above-described sportsprogramming may comprise Olympic game events that may have relatedinformation of interest, such as athlete profiles or event histories,broadcasted prior to the Olympic game event at an unscheduled time. Asanother example, professional sporting events such as hockey, football,soccer, baseball, basketball, bowling, golf, and/or soccer will oftenhave pre-game programming available, especially during championshipplayoff events. Accordingly, the recorded advance period 204 will haverecorded this information of interest for later viewing at the option ofthe user.

Recording of the advance period 204 begins at a time 206 that precedesthe scheduled start time 208 of the program of interest 202. Start time208 corresponds to some period of time corresponding to the beginning ofthe program of interest 202. As will be described in greater detailbelow, the time 206 may be predefined by the embodiment, predefined byinformation in the program itself, or predefined by the content provideror the distributor. Alternatively, or additionally, time 206 may bedefined by the user based upon a predefined period of time, or basedupon a time specified by the user.

The advance period 204 is illustrated as concluding at time 210. Time210 generally corresponds to the scheduled start time 208 of the programof interest 202. As will be described in greater detail below, time 210may be predefined by the embodiment, predefined by information in theprogram itself, or predefined by the content provider or thedistributor. Alternatively, or additionally, time 210 may be defined bythe user based upon a predefined period of time, or based upon timesspecified by the user. In an embodiment that separately records theadvance period 204, time 210 may be later or earlier than the scheduledstart time 208 of the program of interest 202.

It is appreciated that the recording of the program of interest 202continues, or is restarted, at or near the scheduled start time 208 ofthe program of interest 202. The transition between the recorded advanceperiod 204 and the program of interest 202 may be seamless, such as whena single recording device 122 is storing the recorded advance period 204and the program of interest 202. However, some embodiments may recordthe advance period 204 separately from the program of interest 202, andaccordingly, the time 210 may be different from the scheduled start time208 so as to result in a time gap in the recording or in an overlap inthe recording. Thus, the advance period 204 may precede a scheduledstart time of the program of interest 202.

Upon conclusion of the broadcasting of the program of interest 202 (andthe attendant recording of the program of interest 202), embodiments ofthe extended time recorder 100 are operable to automatically record afollowing period 212. The recorded following period 212 will haveinformation of interest that was broadcasted after the conclusion of theprogram of interest 202.

For example, the above-described Olympic game events may have relatedinformation of interest, such as athlete profiles or event histories,broadcasted after the Olympic game event at an unscheduled time or asseparate programming. As another example, professional sporting eventssuch as hockey, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, bowling, golf,and/or tennis will often have post-game programming or may haveover-time periods of play, especially during championship playoffevents. Or, the program may be extended or delayed for other reasons,such as by inclement weather or by unscheduled program interruptions.Accordingly, the recorded following period 212 will have included thissubsequently broadcasted information of interest for later viewing atthe option of the user.

Recording of the following period 212 generally begins at or after thescheduled end time 214 of program of interest 202. The following period212 is illustrated as beginning at time 216, which corresponds to thescheduled end time 214. The following period 212 ends at time 218. Insome embodiments, time 216 may correspond to some period of timedifferent from the scheduled end time 214 of the program of interest202.

It is appreciated that the recording of the following period 212continues, or is restarted, at or near the scheduled end time 214 of theprogram of interest 202. The transition between the program of interest202 and the recorded following period 212 may be seamless, such as whena single recording device 122 is recording the program of interest 202and the following period 212. However, in some embodiments, time 216 maybe different from the scheduled end time 214 of the program of interest202. For example, some embodiments may record the following period 212separately from the program of interest 202, and accordingly the starttime 216 of the following period 212 may be different from the scheduledend time 214 of the program of interest 202 so as to result in a timegap in the channel recording or in an overlap in the channel recording.Thus, the following period 212 substantially follows a scheduled endtime of the program of interest 202.

Times 216 and/or 218 may be predefined by an embodiment, predefined byinformation in the program itself, or predefined by the content provideror the distributor. Alternatively, or additionally, times 216 and/or 218may be defined by the user based upon a predefined period of time, orbased upon times specified by the user.

C. Exemplary Extended Time Recorder System Embodiment

FIG. 3 is an overview block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodimentof an extended time recorder 100 implemented in receiving device 118. Inthis exemplary embodiment, a plurality of tuners 302 a-302 i receiveprogramming information from the receiver antenna 114 to tune thereceived programming to a particular channel corresponding to theprogram of interest 202 (FIG. 2). Programming may be provided by anysuitable communication media providing broadcasted programming content.

Video processing system 304 receives one or more programs from thetuners 302 a-i, and further process the received programming intostreams of video, audio, and/or other information for presentation onone or more presentation devices 120, and/or communication to one ormore user devices 122, such as a DVR. Video processing system 304 mayfurther perform a variety of functions during the processing of aprogram which is ultimately communicated to the presentation devices 120or user devices 122. Non-limiting examples include decryption of secureprograms, demodulation of information in the received programs,formatting the information in the output into a digital or analogsignal, preparing an electronic programming guide (EPG), or providingvarious “trick” functionality that is displayed to the user in aselectable format. Other functions not described above may also beperformed by the video processing system 304.

The extended time recorder 100 further includes a memory for recordingprogramming, referred to as buffer 306. Buffer 306 may be a hard-drivememory system or other suitable memory system operable to store recordedprogram of interest 202, the advance period 204, the following period212, and/or other programs.

Some embodiments record the advance period 204, the program of interest202, and the following period 212 into a memory media, such as buffer306 or a remote recording device 122. In some embodiments, the advanceperiod 204, the program of interest 202, and the following period 212may be stored as a seamless recording with suitable markers to indicatethe different portions of the seamless recording. Alternatively, theadvance period 204, the program of interest 202, and the followingperiod 212 may be separately stored as separate recordings.

Other embodiments may only record the advance period 204 and thefollowing period 212 into buffer 306. Here, the program of interest 202would be recorded by an external recording device 122, such as a DVR, oreven a separate memory medium, such as memory 308 or another memorymedia (not shown), in the set-top box 118. Thus, when the separatelyrecorded program of interest 202 is retrieved from the externalrecording device 122 or another memory for play back, embodiments of theextended time recorder 100 indicate to the user the availability of theadvance period 204 and the following period 212 for viewing. (Forconvenience, “play back” refers to the process of retrieving previouslyrecorded, stored or saved program content from a memory medium andpresenting the retrieved program content on a presentation device 120 orthe like.

In other embodiments, an external recording device 122 may be controlledby the extended time recorder 100. Accordingly, the advance period 204,the program of interest 202, and/or the following period 212 areexternally stored in recording device 122. For example, the extendedtime recorder 100 may be implemented in a DVR or the like. In yet otherembodiments, buffer 306 may itself be an external device 122 undercontrol of the extended time recorder 100.

The extended time recorder 100 may optionally include memory 308. Memory308 may be any suitable memory system operable to store the extendedtime recorder (ETR) logic 310, the ETR Notification Messages 312, andthe ETR program characteristics 314. Memory 308 may also optionally beused to store other suitable stored logic and/or information (notshown). In some embodiments, memory 308 may be a read only memory (ROM),or may be a suitable writable memory, such as, but not limited to, arandom access memory (RAM) or the like. In other embodiments, theabove-described buffer may be used for storing this information. Thefunctionality of the ETR logic 310, the ETR Notification Messages 312,and the ETR program characteristics 314 will be described in greaterdetail hereinbelow.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary partial screen shot illustrating a hypotheticalelectronic programming guide (EPG) 400 displayed on presentation device120. In this simplified illustrative example, a current time of “5:10p.m.” is indicated on the EPG 400 at 402. Channels 2-7 are indicated onthe EPG 400 in a column at 404. The EPG 400 graphically indicates thescheduled programming from the current time period starting at 5:00 p.m.through 8:00 p.m., generally indicated at 406. It is appreciated thatthe EPG 400 may display scheduled programming over a longer period oftime, even up to several hours in advance of the current time. Further,the EPG 400 may display available programming for more channels than theillustrated channels 2-7. That is, many more channels, and theirattendant programs, may be displayed on an EPG 400 over a longer periodof time than is illustrated in the exemplary partial screen shot of FIG.4.

Continuing with the above hypothetical illustrative example, assume thata user wishes to record the program of interest 202, which isillustrated as beginning at 6:00 p.m. and ending at 8:00 p.m. on channel4. Using remote 128 (FIG. 1), the user highlights the region 408corresponding to the program of interest 202 (indicated by the boldedbox around the program of interest 202). Any suitable system or methodof displaying suitable highlighting or indicia to indicate a program ofinterest on an EPG 400 may be used by embodiments of the extended timerecorder 100. Then, the user selects the indicated program of interest202 by actuation of a selection key or the like on the remote 128(FIG. 1) to indicate that the highlighted program is to be recorded bythe extended time recorder 100.

Once the user's selection is communicated to the extended time recorder100, the channel (here, channel 4), the scheduled start time (here 6:00p.m.) and the scheduled end time (here 8:00 p.m.) of the program ofinterest 202 are known or determinable by the extended time recorder100. Accordingly, when the identified channel (here, channel 4) isbroadcasted and received by the extended time recorder 100,above-described advance period 204 begins to record at time 206 (FIG.2), which is in advance of the start time of 6:00 p.m. Exemplary startrecord times 206 could be based on a predefined time such as fifteenminutes, a half hour, an hour, or any other suitable time. Start time206 could be predefined or dynamically defined by the user.

Other embodiments may employ other apparatus and/or processes to a userto select a program of interest 202 for recording. That is, selection ofa program of interest 202 may be implemented in other manners than byusing the above-described EPG 400.

The program of interest 202 may be recorded within the receiving device118 itself when recording device 122 is an internal component, system ordevice. In such embodiments that seamlessly record the advance period204, the program of interest 202, and the following period 212,recording begins at time 206 and continues after time 210 so that theprogram of interest 202 is seamlessly recorded with the advance period204. Recording of the program of interest 202 continues through thescheduled end time 214 such that the following period 212 is seamlesslyrecorded. Recording ends at time 218.

As noted above, the program of interest 202 may be separately recordedfrom the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212. Therecordings may be in external recording devices 122. In suchembodiments, recording of the advance period 204 continues to time 210.Then, recording stops. At time 216, recording of the following period212 begins. Recording of the following period 212 continues to time 218,and then stops.

D. Extended Time Recorder Display and Selection Options

FIG. 5 is an exemplary partial screen shot illustrating a hypotheticalextended time recorder (ETR) notification message 502 that is displayedon presentation device 120 when a user operates the extended timerecorder 100 to begin playback of the program of interest 202. The usermay use the remote 128 (FIG. 1), or anther suitable controller, toinitiate the process of retrieving and displaying the previouslyrecorded program of interest 202.

As noted above, the previously recorded program of interest 202 may bestored in a variety of suitable media types, formats, and/or locations.It is to be appreciated that different processes of retrieving andpresenting the recorded program of interest 202 may be used.

When the user initiates the process of retrieving and presenting thepreviously recorded program of interest 202, embodiments of the extendedtime recorder 100 generate an ETR notification message 502 (FIG. 5) thatis presentable on presentation device 120. An ETR notification message502 is then communicated to and displayed on presentation device 120when the program of interest 202 is retrieved, or the process ofretrieving is initiated. The ETR notification message 502 indicates theavailability of the recorded advance period 204 and/or the recordedfollowing period 212.

The non-limiting exemplary ETR notification message 502 includes a firstportion 504 which indicates to the user the availability of the advanceperiod 204, program of interest 202, and/or following period 212. TheETR notification message 502, portion 504 is illustrated as a three-linetext message that indicates that the advance period 204 and followingperiod 212 are available for viewing in addition to the recorded programof interest 202. Portion 504 may be presented in any suitable form, suchas alpha-numeric text and/or symbols such as icons. The portion 504 maybe arranged in any format, and may include more or less information thanis illustrated in FIG. 5.

The non-limiting exemplary ETR notification message 502 may include asecond portion 506 that corresponds to the selectable regions 508, 510,512 associated with the advance period 204, program of interest 202,and/or following period 212, respectively. The selectable regions 508,510, and/or 512 indicate to the user the selectability of one or all ofthe advance period 204, program of interest 202, and/or following period212. Here, for convenience of describing the ETR notification message502, portion 506 is illustrated as three selectable boxes which the usermay select. In some embodiments, the user may select the order in whichthe advance period 204, program of interest 202, and following period212 are displayed. Also, the user may select only the ones of theadvance period 204, program of interest 202, and/or following period 212that the user is interested in.

In this simplified exemplary embodiment, selectable region 508 isappreciated to be associated with the advance period 204. Accordingly,selection of the selectable region 508 will select the advance period204 for presentation. Similarly, selectable region 510 is understood tobe associated with the program of interest 202, and selectable region512 is understood to be associated with the following period 212.Selection of the selectable region 510 and/or 512 will select theprogram of interest 202 and the following period 212, respectively, forpresentation.

As noted above, a user may choose which of the advance period 204,program of interest 202, and following period 212 are selected forpresentation. For example, if the user selects regions 508 and 510, thepreviously recorded advance period 204 and the program of interest 202will be retrieved and presented on presentation device 120. If the useronly selects region 510, only the previously recorded program ofinterest 202 will be retrieved and presented on presentation device 120.On the other hand, if the user only selects region 508, only thepreviously recorded advance period 204 will be retrieved and presentedon presentation device 120.

In some embodiments, upon completion of the presentation of the selectedadvance period 204, program of interest 202, and/or following period212, the ETR notification message 502 may again be displayed. The usermay exit the ETR notification message 502 by selecting the selectableregion 514, or select one or more of the advance period 204, program ofinterest 202, and/or following period 212 for presentation. In otherembodiments, after play back of the selected recordings, the ETRnotification message 502 is not again displayed, and operation of thepresentation device 120 is returned to some alternative operatingcondition.

The selectable regions 508, 510, 512, and/or 514 may be presented in anysuitable form, such as a symbol, icon, or the like. The selectableregions 508, 510, 512, and/or 514 may be arranged in any format and/orlocation on the display, and may further include more or lessinformation than is illustrated in FIG. 5. Selection of a selectableregion 508, 510, 512, and/or 514 may be indicated with highlighting oranother suitable secondary symbol, such as an “x” or check mark, or evena number or letter to indicate order of play back. It is to beappreciated that the user understands that the selectable regions 508,510, and/or 512 are associated with a respective recording by proximityof the selectable region to its respective descriptor in portion 504.

As noted above, recording of the advance period 204 begins at time 206and ends at time 210 (FIG. 2). Recording of the following period 204begins at time 216 and ends at time 218. In some embodiments, times 206,210, 216, and/or 218 may be specified by the user. Accordingly, asuitable messaging or menu system would be provided so that the user mayspecify times 206, 210, 216, and/or 218. For example, the selectableregions 508, 510, and/or 512 may be operable to receive timespecification from the user.

ETR notification messages 502 may be predefined and stored in the ETRnotification messages portion 312 of memory 308 (FIG. 3). However, theymay be generated as needed by the extended time recorder 100. Anysuitable type of ETR notification message 502 may be used by embodimentsof the extended time recorder 100.

E. Identification of Programs of Interest

As noted above, embodiments of the extended time recorder 100 areoperable to record the advance period 204, program of interest 202,and/or following period 212 based upon a characteristic of the programof interest 202. Accordingly, a program selected for recording may becharacterized or classified as a program of interest 202 based upon amatching, correlation, or the like, of the program's characteristicswith at least one or more characteristics which are associated with aprogram of interest 202.

The extended time recorder 100 may identify programs of interest 202based upon pre-characterization or pre-classification of the programselected for recording. EPGs may have sub-menus or the like (not shown)which have pre-characterized or pre-classified the available programminginto program types according to a characteristic, such as movies,sporting events, news, etc. Upon selection of a program type by theuser, programs characterized or classified into the selected programtype are displayed on an EPG sub-menu. Thus, if a user is interestedonly in viewing sport programs, selection of sports programming from anEPG sub-menu causes the display of the available sports programming.Accordingly, some other device or system may have pre-characterized orpre-classified the available programming into different types orcategories based upon program characteristics. This information, whichmay be embedded into the program as data, may be used to characterize orclassify the program selected for recording as a program of interest202.

In response to a user's selection of a program for recording,embodiments compare and/or correlate the ETR program characteristics 314(FIG. 3) with the above-described program classifications. If a matchand/or correlation between the ETR program characteristics 314 and atleast one characteristic of the program selected for recording, theselected program is identified as a program of interest 202 for whichthe advance period 204 and the following period 212 are to be recorded.Embodiments may use a plurality of matches and/or correlations betweenthe ETR program characteristics 314 and characteristics of the programselected for recording, which may facilitate a more reliableidentification of a selected program as a program of interest 202.

For example, sporting events may be included as a characteristic in theETR program characteristics 314. Assume that the user selects a programof interest 202 entitled “Wednesday Evening Football” for recordingduring the upcoming scheduled Wednesday evening broadcast. Since atleast one characteristic of selected program is a sporting event, itscharacteristic corresponds to and/or matches the ETR programcharacteristic. Thus, embodiments of the extended time recorder 100record and store at least the advance period 204 and the followingperiod 212. Some embodiments may also record the program of interest202, here, the broadcast of “Wednesday Evening Football”.

Some embodiments may dynamically identify programs selected forrecording based upon one or more keywords associated with the program.For example, a keyword term or phrase associated with a program selectedfor recording may be used to identify the selected program as a programof interest 202 for which the advance period 204 and the followingperiod 212 are to be recorded.

Embodiments may be operable to learn programming content characteristicsbased upon a previous presentation history. For example, keywords and/orclassifications may be associated with a program that the user selectsfor recording the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212.The next time the same program, or a similar program with the keywordsand/or classifications is recorded, the extended time recorder 100records the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212.

Information associated with the selected program for recording may beavailable and embedded into the program as data. As one non-limitingexample, the information may specify that the program is a program ofinterest 202. The information may include terms or phrases that may beparsed into keyword terms or phrases. Accordingly, embodiments of theextended time recorder 100 may access the information, and then compareor correlate the information with keyword terms and/or phrases known tobe associated with the types of programs of interest 202 for which theadvance period 204 and the following period 212 are to be recorded. Thatis, a keyword search may be performed by embodiments of the extendedtime recorder 100 to identify a program selected for recording as beinga program of interest 202.

Embodiments may identify a program selected for recording as a programof interest 202 based upon an indicia, such as a tag or other suitableidentifier (ID), associated with the selected program. For example, atag or ID may be pre-associated with the selected program by a thirdparty, such as, but not limited to, the program provider, originator,distributor, and/or user. The tag or ID may be added into information,such as metadata or program descriptor information, that is embeddedinto or communicated with the selected program. Upon detection of areceived tag or ID by the extended time recorder 100, the programselected for recording is identified as a program of interest 202. Suchkey words, tags, or the like, that designate programming content as aprogram of interest 202 can thus be provided by the program originator,networks, program providers, program distributor, user, or combinationsthereof.

It is to be appreciated that any suitable type of characteristic, orother suitable criteria, may be used to identify a program selected forrecording as a program of interest 202. That is, any suitablecharacteristic or criteria may be used to identify or classify a programselected for recording as a program of interest 202 for which theadvance period 204 and/or the following period 212 are to be recorded.As noted above, the characteristics stored in the ETR programcharacteristics 314 region of memory 308 may be stored as a database,lookup table or the like, collectively referred to as a database forconvenience. The characteristics may be stored in other convenientlocations, such as a remote memory system or media.

For convenience, sporting event type programs were used as an exemplarycharacteristic to describe the operation of various embodiments of theextended time recorder 100. It is to be appreciated that thecharacteristics are not limited to sporting events.

F. Other Extended Time Recorder Embodiments

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an extended time recorder 100 embodimentimplemented in a recording device 122 that employs a removablerecordable media 604. The simplified exemplary recording device 122comprises a processing system 602 operable to receive programs from asuitable source, and operable to communicate a recorded program ofinterest 202 to presentation device 120. Recording device 122 includes aprocessing system 602 operable to record programming onto the removablerecordable media 604, and may include an optional buffer 606.

Once a program selected for recording is identified as a program ofinterest 202 for which the advance period 204 and the following period212 are to be recorded, the advance period 204, program of interest 202,and/or following period 212 may be recorded or stored onto at least oneof the removable recordable media 604 or the optional buffer 606.Examples of a removable recordable media 604 include: magnetic tapemedia, such as video cassette recorder (VCR) media or the like; opticalbased recording media, such as digital video discs (DVD) or the like;electronic based recording media, such as a smart card or the like; orother suitable portable media.

In some embodiments, the advance period 204 and/or the following period212 may be stored into the optional buffer 606 for temporary storage.Thus, the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212 may not beinitially recorded onto the removable recordable media 604 to save datastorage capacity of the removable recordable media 604.

A user may then have the option of selectively saving the advance period204 and/or the following period 212 onto the removable recordable media604 at a later time. The advance period 204 and/or the following period212 could be retrieved from the optional buffer 606 in the recordingdevice 122, the buffer 306 in the receiving device 118, or any othermedia in which the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212have been stored.

Some embodiments of the receiving device 118 may have a removablerecordable media 604 integrated therein. Thus, such receiving devices118 would operate similar to the above-described recording device 122.

The extended time recorder 100 is illustrated as a separatemodule/component/system residing in the recording device 122. Theextended time recorder 100 may be integrated into the processing system602 or other components or systems of the receiving device 118.

The above-described buffer 306 and memory 308 (FIG. 3) may be the samememory media or separate memory media. In the context of thisdisclosure, buffer 306, memory 308, and/or buffer 606 (FIG. 6) arecomputer-readable medium that may be an electronic, magnetic, optical,or other another physical device or means that contains or stores acomputer and/or processor program and/or information. In the context ofthis disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that canstore, communicate, propagate, or transport the program associated withETR logic 310 and/or recorded programming for use by or in connectionwith the instruction execution system, apparatus, and/or device. Thecomputer-readable medium can be, for example, but is not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable mediumwould include the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic, compact flash card,secure digital, or the like), a random access memory (RAM), a read-onlymemory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM,or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact discread-only memory (CDROM). Note that the computer-readable medium, couldeven be paper or another suitable medium upon which the programassociated with ETR logic 310 is printed, as the program can beelectronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of thepaper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwiseprocessed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in buffer306, memory 308, and/or buffer 606.

The above-described video processing system 304 (FIG. 3) and theprocessing system 602 (FIG. 6) include a suitable processor device orsystem. Any suitable processor device or system may be employed invarious embodiments of a extended time recorder 100. The processordevice or system may be a specially designed and/or fabricatedprocessing system, or a commercially available processor system.Non-limiting examples of commercially available processor systemsinclude, but are not limited to, an 80×86 or Pentium seriesmicroprocessor from Intel Corporation, U.S.A., a PowerPC microprocessorfrom IBM., a SPARC microprocessor from Sun Microsystems, Inc., a PA-RISCseries microprocessor from Hewlett-Packard Company, or a 68xxx seriesmicroprocessor from Motorola Corporation.

In the above-described embodiments, a program selected for recording wasidentified as a program of interest 202 based upon at least onecharacteristic. In some embodiments, a user may elect to categorize aprogram as a program of interest 202. Accordingly, the ETR notificationmessage 502 may include a selectable region so that the user may specifythat the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212 are recordedalong with the program of interest 202. Some embodiments may be operableto receive specified characteristics from the user.

In some embodiments, when a program selected for recording is notidentified as being a program of interest 202, the selected program isrecorded in any suitable manner. Accordingly, the advance period 204 andthe following period 212 are not recorded. However, some embodiments mayrecord the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212 for allselected recorded programs, even if there is no identification of aselected program as a program of interest 202. The recorded advanceperiod 204 and following period 212 may be saved on a re-recordablememory medium. Upon retrieval of the recorded program for presentation,the ETR notification message 502 may be presented. Thus, the user mayelect to have the advance period 204 and/or following period 212presented.

Some embodiments of the extended time recorder 100 (FIG. 3) are operableto adjust the period of time for the advance period 204 and/or thefollowing period 212 based upon a characteristic of the program ofinterest 202 (FIG. 2). For example, in one instance the program ofinterest 202 may be a regularly-scheduled sporting event, andaccordingly, the periods of time for the advance period 204 and/or thefollowing period 212 may be predefined. However, if the program ofinterest 202 is a championship sporting event, as indicted by one ormore characteristics of the program of interest 202, the periods of timefor the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212 may beincreased. In other situations, the periods of time for the advanceperiod 204 and/or the following period 212 may be decreased. That is,the embodiment is dynamically making an intelligent decision regardingthe periods of time for the advance period 204 and/or the followingperiod 212.

Some embodiments may display the ETR notification message 502 with aselectable region which allows the user to adjust the periods of timefor the advance period 204 and/or the following period 212. The user maybe able to select from predefined periods of time, or may be able tospecify periods of time, and/or specify the above-described times 206,210, 216, and/or 218, for the advance period 204 and/or the followingperiod 212.

Some embodiments are operable to assess availability of memory capacitybefore recording the advance period and/or following period. When memorycapacity in excess of the amount required to save the program ofinterest is available, the advance period and/or following periods arerecorded. If there is not sufficient available memory capacity to recordthe advance period and/or following period, then recording may be madeup to the amount of available memory capacity. Some embodiments mayautomatically record the advance period first, followed by the followingperiod. Some embodiments may automatically record the following periodfirst, followed by the advance period. Other embodiments may determinewhich of the advance period and/or following period to record based uponthe determined characteristic. For example, if the determinedcharacteristic is a sporting event of the type which may run late due toovertime rules, the following period receives priority over the advanceperiod.

Some embodiments, if there is not sufficient available memory capacityto record the advance period and/or following period, may prompt theuser to make a selection to record either the advance period and/orfollowing period. Other embodiments may erase and/or record over olderprogramming to make room for the advance period and/or following period.In some embodiments, older programming may be identified by a thresholdor the like. Another embodiment may erase and/or record over the oldestrecorded program. Further, unused and availably memory capacity may beinitially utilized for the advance period and/or following period, andwhen no more unrecorded capacity is available, the older programming maybe erased and/or recorded over as necessary.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts 700 and 800, respectively, illustratingprocesses used by an embodiment of the extended time recorder 100. Theflow charts 700 and 800 show the architecture, functionality, andoperation of a possible implementation of the software for implementingthe ETR logic 310 (FIG. 3). In this regard, each described process mayrepresent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one ormore executable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s). It should also be noted that in some implementations, thefunctions noted in the process may occur in a different order, mayinclude additional functions, may occur concurrently, and/or may beomitted.

With respect to FIG. 7, the process 700 starts at 702, for example, inresponse to receiving a selection of a program for recording by a user.At 704, the selected program for recording is identified as a program ofinterest based upon a characteristic of the selected program, thecharacteristic of the selected program corresponding to at least onecharacteristic associated with the program of interest. In someembodiments, the characteristic of the selected program corresponding toat least one characteristic associated with the program of interest 202.At 706, the advance period 204 corresponding to a period before abeginning of the program of interest is recorded. In some embodiments,the advance period 204 substantially corresponding to a period before abeginning of the program of interest. At 708, the following period 212corresponding to a period after a conclusion of the program of interestis recorded. In some embodiments, the following period 212 substantiallycorresponding to a period after a conclusion of the program of interest202. The process ends at 710.

With respect to FIG. 8, the process 800 starts at 802, for example, inresponse to receiving a selection of a program for recording by a user.At 804, a first amount of memory capacity in a memory device forrecording a selected program of interest is determined. At 806, a secondamount of memory capacity in the memory device for recording an advanceperiod is determined. At 808, a third amount of memory capacity in thememory device for recording a following period is determined. At 810, anavailable memory capacity of the memory device in excess of the firstamount of memory capacity for recording the program of interest isdetermined. At 812, the advance period and the following period arerecorded when the available memory capacity is greater than the secondamount of memory capacity and the third amount of memory capacity. Theprocess ends at 814.

While various embodiments have been described hereinabove, it is to beappreciated that various changes in form and detail may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention(s) presently orhereafter claimed.

1. A method for recording programs, comprising: identifying a programselected for recording as a program of interest based upon the programselected for recording having at least one characteristic correspondingto at least one characteristic of a previous program for which at leastone of an advance period associated with the previous program or afollowing period associated with the previous program was recorded;recording an advance period associated with the program of interest, theadvance period corresponding to a period before a beginning of theprogram of interest; and recording a following period associated withthe program of interest, the following period corresponding to a periodafter a conclusion of the program of interest; receiving an indicationfrom a user to initiate a process of retrieving and presenting theprogram of interest; in response to the receiving the indication fromthe user to initiate a process of retrieving and presenting the programof interest, before any presentation of the program of interest,enabling the user to choose which of the recorded advance period, theprogram of interest, and the recorded following period are selected forpresentation; if the user chooses only the recorded advance period,retrieving and presenting only the recorded advance period and neitherthe program of interest nor the recorded following period in response tothe user choosing only the recorded advance period; and if the userchoses only the program of interest, retrieving and presenting only theprogram of interest and neither the recorded advance period nor therecorded following period in response to the user choosing only theprogram of interest.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein recording theadvance period comprises: starting recording of the advance periodassociated with the program of interest at a first time that precedes ascheduled start time of the program of interest; and ending recording ofthe advance period associated with the program of interest at a secondtime that corresponds to the scheduled start time of the program ofinterest.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein recording the followingperiod comprises: starting recording of the following period associatedwith the program of interest at a first time that corresponds to thescheduled end time of the program of interest; and ending recording ofthe following period associated with the program of interest at a secondtime that is after the scheduled end time of the program of interest. 4.The method of claim 1, comprising: recording the program of intereststarting at the scheduled start time and ending at a scheduled end time.5. The method of claim 1, comprising: storing the recorded advanceperiod associated with the program of interest into a first portion of amemory; storing the program of interest into a second portion of thememory; and storing the recorded following period associated with theprogram of interest into a third portion of the memory.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, comprising: storing the recorded advance period associated withthe program of interest into a first portion of a first memory; andstoring the recorded following period associated with the program ofinterest into a second portion of the first memory, wherein the programof interest is stored into a second memory.
 7. The method of claim 1,comprising: adjusting the advance period associated with the program ofinterest based upon another characteristic of the program.
 8. The methodof claim 1, comprising: adjusting the following period associated withthe program of interest based upon another characteristic of theprogram.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the enabling the user tochoose which of the recorded advance period, the program of interest,and the recorded following period are selected for presentationincludes: in response to the receiving the indication from the user toinitiate a process of retrieving and presenting the program of interest,before any presentation of the program of interest, communicating anotification message on a presentation device, the notification messageincluding first selectable region which indicates to the userselectability of the recorded advance period associated with the programof interest, a second selectable region which indicates to the userselectability of the program of interest and a third selectable regionwhich indicates to the user selectability of recorded following periodassociated with the program of interest; and receiving an indicationfrom the user of the which of the recorded advance period, the programof interest and the recorded following period are selected forpresentation according to a received indication of a correspondingselection by the user of one or more of the first selectable region,second selectable region and the third selectable region.
 10. The methodof claim 9, further comprising: receiving a selection from the user ofthe first selectable region and not the second or third selectableregion; and in response to receiving the selection from the user of thefirst selectable region, but not the second or third selectable region,retrieving and presenting on the presentation device the recordedadvance period and not the program of interest or recorded followingperiod.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving aselection from the user of the second selectable region and not thefirst or third selectable region; and in response to receiving theselection from the user of the second selectable region, but not thefirst or third selectable region, retrieving and presenting on thepresentation device the program of interest, but not the recordedadvance period or recorded following period.
 12. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a selection from the user of an order inwhich the recorded advance period, program of interest, and recordedfollowing period are to be played back; and in response to receiving theselection from the user of the order in which the recorded advanceperiod, program of interest, and recorded following period are to beplayed back, playing back the recorded advance period, program ofinterest, and recorded following period according to the selection fromthe user of the order in which the recorded advance period, program ofinterest, and recorded following period are to be played back.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: if the user chooses only therecorded following period in response to the enabling the user to choosewhich of the recorded advance period, the program of interest, and therecorded following period are selected for presentation, then retrievingand presenting, before any presentation of the program of interest, onlythe recorded following period and neither the program of interest northe recorded advance period in response to the user choosing only therecorded following period.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein identifyingthe selected program for recording as a program of interest comprises:receiving electronic descriptor information associated with the selectedprogram; comparing the received electronic descriptor information withcharacteristics associated with the previous program for which at leastone of the advance period associated with the previous program or thefollowing period associated with the previous program was recorded; andidentifying the selected program as the program of interest in responseto a match of the electronic descriptor information with the at leastone characteristic of the previous program.
 15. The method of claim 1wherein identifying the selected program for recording as a program ofinterest comprises: receiving electronically, a user specification thatthe selected program is the program of interest.
 16. A system whichrecords a program, comprising: a receiving device operable to receive aprogram selected for recording; and a processor operable to compare atleast one characteristic of the program selected for recording with aplurality of program characteristics, and in response to the at leastone characteristic of the program selected for recording matching one ofthe plurality of program characteristics, and in response to the programselected for recording having at least one characteristic correspondingto at least one characteristic of a previous program for which at leastone of an advance period associated with the previous program or afollowing period associated with the previous program was recorded, isoperable to: identify the program selected for recording as a program ofinterest; control recording of at least an advance period associatedwith the program of interest that precedes a scheduled start time of theprogram of interest; and record a following period associated with theprogram of interest that follows a scheduled end time of the program ofinterest; receive an indication from a user to initiate a process ofretrieving and presenting the program of interest; in response to thereceived indication from the user to initiate a process of retrievingand presenting the program of interest, before any presentation of theprogram of interest, enable the user to choose which of the recordedadvance period, the program of interest, and the recorded followingperiod are selected for presentation; if the user chooses only therecorded advance period, retrieve and present only the recorded advanceperiod and neither the program of interest nor the recorded followingperiod in response to the user choosing only the recorded advanceperiod; if the user choses only the program of interest, retrieve andpresent only the program of interest and neither the recorded advanceperiod nor the recorded following period in response to the userchoosing only the program of interest; and
 17. The system of claim 16wherein the memory has a database populated with the databasecharacteristics associated with the program of interest.
 18. The systemof claim 16, comprising: a first tuner operable to tune to a firstchannel having the program of interest so that the advance periodassociated with the program of interest and the following periodassociated with the program of interest are recorded.
 19. The system ofclaim 16, comprising: a memory populated with an extended time recording(ETR) notification message, wherein the ETR notification message isdisplayed on a display device when the recorded program of interest isretrieved for play back, and wherein the ETR notification messageindicates the advance period associated with the program of interest andthe following period associated with the program of interest areavailable for play back.
 20. The system of claim 16, comprising: amemory operable to store the recorded advance period associated with theprogram of interest and the recorded following period associated withthe program of interest.
 21. The system of claim 16, comprising: anexternal recording device coupled to the receiving device and operableto store the recorded advance period associated with the program ofinterest and the recorded following period associated with the programof interest.
 22. The system of claim 16, comprising: an externalrecording device coupled to the receiving device and operable to storethe recorded advance period associated with the program of interest, therecorded program of interest and the recorded following periodassociated with the program of interest.
 23. The system of claim 16,comprising: a recording device residing in the receiving device andoperable to store the recorded advance period associated with theprogram of interest and the recorded following period associated withthe program of interest.
 24. The system of claim 16, comprising: arecording device residing in the receiving device and operable to storethe recorded advance period associated with the program of interest, therecorded program of interest and the recorded following periodassociated with the program of interest.
 25. A method for recordingprograms, comprising: identifying a program selected for recording as aprogram of interest based upon the program selected for recording havingat least one characteristic corresponding to at least one characteristicof a previous program for which at least one of an advance periodassociated with the previous program or a following period associatedwith the previous program was recorded; determining a first amount ofmemory capacity in a memory device for recording the program ofinterest; determining a second amount of memory capacity in the memorydevice for recording an advance period associated with the program ofinterest and corresponding to a period before a beginning of the programof interest; determining a third amount of memory capacity in the memorydevice for recording a following period associated with the program ofinterest corresponding to a period after a conclusion of the program ofinterest; determining an available memory capacity of the memory devicein excess of the first amount of memory capacity for recording theprogram of interest; and recording the advance period associated withthe program of interest and the following period associated with theprogram of interest when the available memory capacity is greater thanthe second amount of memory capacity and the third amount of memorycapacity; receiving an indication from a user to initiate a process ofretrieving and presenting the program of interest; in response to thereceiving the indication from the user to initiate a process ofretrieving and presenting the program of interest, before anypresentation of the program of interest, enabling the user to choosewhich of the recorded advance period, the program of interest, and therecorded following period are selected for presentation; and if the userchooses only the recorded advance period, retrieving and presenting onlythe recorded advance period and neither the program of interest nor therecorded following period in response to the user choosing only therecorded advance period; if the user choses only the program ofinterest, retrieving and presenting only the program of interest andneither the recorded advance period nor the recorded following period inresponse to the user choosing only the program of interest;
 26. Themethod of claim 25 comprising: in response to the available memorycapacity being less than the second amount of memory capacity and thethird amount of memory capacity, recording the advance period associatedwith the program of interest and the following period associated withthe program of interest until the available memory capacity is utilized.27. The method of claim 25 comprising: in response to the availablememory capacity being less than the second amount of memory capacity andthe third amount of memory capacity, adjusting at least one of theadvance period associated with the program of interest and the followingperiod associated with the program of interest so that the second memorycapacity and the third memory capacity are at least less than thedetermined available memory capacity.
 28. The method of claim 25 whereindetermining an available memory capacity in excess of the first amountof memory capacity comprises: identifying unrecorded memory capacity inthe memory such that the available memory capacity includes theunrecorded memory capacity.
 29. The method of claim 25 whereindetermining an available memory capacity in excess of the first amountof memory capacity comprises: identifying recorded memory capacity inthe memory associated with programming recorded earlier than a timethreshold, such that the available memory capacity includes the recordedmemory capacity associated with programming recorded earlier than a timethreshold.
 30. The method of claim 25 wherein determining an availablememory capacity in excess of the first amount of memory capacitycomprises: identifying unrecorded memory capacity in the memory;identifying recorded memory capacity in the memory associated withprogramming recorded earlier than a time threshold; and recording theadvance period and the following period into the unrecorded memorycapacity until the unrecorded memory capacity is utilized, and thenrecording the remainder of the advance period and the following periodinto the recorded memory capacity.